Secret Things

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We're setting out on a road trip tomorrow to try to find a place to live in our new city. Half of me is thrilled and half of me is completely nervous! This feels different somehow than all of the other times I've house-hunted. I know that just the right home is waiting for us and it's only a matter of lining up all the pieces and allowing ourselves patience and trust. 

I have such high hopes for our new lives and the changes that are in store for us. This move is so much more than just a physical relocation. Some very fundamental things will change, affecting both the shape of our daily lives and the bigger story that my husband and I are writing together. So while it's terribly exciting, you may also sense some anxiety in my posts over the next few weeks. Big changes, even wonderful ones, can really fill up your mind and heart and overwhelm you at times. I'm taking lots of deep breaths these days. 

Secret things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things. 

Really, we aren't supposed to have all the answers. God is the keeper of our futures, the keeper of life's secrets. I'm resting in that truth today.

Both Functional And Beautiful

I've been thinking so much about kitchens lately--specifically that, of all of the rooms in a home, it's the one that must be equal parts function and beauty. When you love to cook you begin to learn how to move around a kitchen, how to store things, what to keep within reach, what makes for a good design. A functional kitchen is such a big part of feeling comfortable cooking night in and night out. Interestingly, I ended up loving my dainty (a euphemism for minuscule) NYC kitchen because everything was so handy and close by. I could stand at the sink and take a tiny step right to reach the fridge, a tiny step left to get to the stove, reach straight up for spices and olive oil and all of my dishes. Having a shoebox of a kitchen was so much more efficient than you would think. It surprised me in the best possible way! 

My current kitchen isn't horribly un-functional but it isn't terrific. A lot of the material choices--white countertops, weird pinkish tile flooring, flat paint on the walls--are really hard to keep looking clean, which is a big part of function. Even if I scrub and scrub it's a difficult kitchen to make spotless. But I'm glad I've had this experience because it's taught me a lot about what I don't want my someday-kitchen to be like.

So, a functional kitchen is important. But beauty, at least for me, has just as big a role to play. A kitchen must feel good to be in. Pretty things should be displayed, and good natural light is a huge bonus. Art should hang in the kitchen, a soft, colorful rug should be on the floor. You should love your dishes and maybe have a few open shelves for showing off your favorite ones. 

I've slowly been growing my collection of what I think of as "beautiful kitchen things." A lot of them were wedding gifts, which we still don't have here with us but they're being moved out of storage very soon and we'll be reunited with everything when we relocate.* A lot of my own additions were found at thrift shops, or they were DIY projects, or hand-me-downs. (Examples: my vintage wire basket, DIY Cook's Illustrated art, these yellow and ivory dessert plates.) It makes me happy to fill my kitchen with eclectic, vintage, pretty things!

Anyway, at the estate sale I went to last week, I found a few more pieces to add to my "beautiful kitchen things" collection. 

This miniature copper and brass footed colander stole my heart the moment I saw it (in all of its grimy glory). I knew it just needed a good cleaning to look its best again, and I'm all about a nice aged patina anyway. I can imagine it sitting on a shelf next to bright white dishes and using it to rinse strawberries. It's adorable, right?

And I couldn't resist these pink glasses. I passed them by on my first round but came back because I kept thinking about them. I've been so attracted to colored glass lately. You better believe that come summertime, my first batch of iced tea will be served up in these beauties. I only wish I had four!

I'd love to hear from you--how do you keep your kitchen both functional and beautiful? What does your dream kitchen look like? What sorts of things fill your shelves?

*I hope to share more news on that soon! It's been killing me to keep such exciting news bottled up inside!

I'm Headed To An Estate Sale!

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The first one I've ever been to! I know they can be hit or miss but I'm hopeful. I saw some photographs online of a few of the pieces that will be for sale and I have my eye on some brass dancing ladies. I'm also keeping a look out for ironstone and vintage dressers.

Here's to bargain hunting and secondhand beauties!

Sharing Recipes

Do you keep your prized recipes and kitchen tricks a secret? Or are you a sharer?

I read this post last week on the Kitchn and it made me think about this question. I hadn't considered it much before but after reading the piece, realized I am definitely a recipe sharer. (After all, I co-wrote a cookbook with my family and it divulges many a secret!)

It honestly has never occurred to me to do it any other way. It makes me happy to describe how I made a particular dish or to hear that a recipe I passed on was a hit with a family member or a friend who tried it. Usually, the first few minutes of dinner with my husband consist of me telling him in great detail how I prepared it. And one of my favorite elements of Thanksgiving is swapping tips and tricks with family members as we mash potatoes together and combine two gravy-making methods.

Part of the reason I am this way is because I'm curious myself. I always want to know how a spectacularly browned pork chop got to be that way, or why the pie crust is so flaky, or what makes the potato salad so perfectly tangy. When it comes to my own cooking, I think I love to share because I'm proud of the food I make and like describing the process from raw ingredients to finished dish. It's a fun thing to do while you enjoy a yummy homemade meal.

Noah Zinsmeister Photography

But also because I still marvel that the simplest ingredients can produce the most heavenly flavors. I'm a fairly simple cook and my favorite ingredients to work with in the kitchen are things like onions, lemons, garlic, salted butter, basil, sharp cheddar, buttermilk, white wine, balsamic vinegar. I marvel that these basics can produce the most scrumptious results. Cooking well doesn't take much skill, in my opinion, and I've long believed that anyone can be a good cook. It takes good, fresh ingredients, heat, patience.

So I think that part of the reason I like to share is because cooking is amazing! It's amazing what a little shallot sautéed in olive oil tastes like (not to mention how it smells!). It's amazing what a squeeze of lemon on top of roasted kale can do to brighten the flavor. I share because I believe in the beauty of cooking, the magic and mystery of it, and because I believe that the power lies not in the cook but in the process. Keeping a recipe a secret gives the illusion that it's all about me whereas it's really about flour, sugar, butter, the right amount of heat, a careful eye, a steady touch, trial and error, willingness and lots of patience.

DIY Milk Paint Table Makeover

I completed this table makeover about a week ago and I love it a little more every day! My husband and I are both very pleased with it. It's amazing what a difference a little DIY work can do on furniture that has seen better days!

This table was a hand-me-down from my parents (and I think it was a hand-me-down for them too) so it has been through a lot of use over the years. I especially disliked all of the white discoloration and heat spots that had stubbornly imprinted themselves into the finish. But the table is sturdy and has a nice design, with three separate leaves (one of which is in storage so I'll have to paint it later) and the curved legs and the warm wood. 

Since the base of the table is in good condition and because the wood in that area is warm and pretty, I decided just to paint the top. I'm a big fan of contrast between wood and paint and I think the two-tone look I was able to achieve is unusual and unexpected, which I like.

So--the project itself. I used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint for the first time and it blew me away. It's an amazing product. It comes as a powder so you add water until you get the consistency you're after. I also added the MMS Bonding Agent because I didn't want any chipping or flaking, and because by adding it I was able to skip the priming/sanding/striping that I so dislike. I simply cleaned the wood and began painting. 

I chose to use Ironstone, the pure white color in the MMS Milk Paint line. Because the wood was fairly dark and the paint was light, I did have to apply about 5 or 6 coats which I've read is typical for Ironstone. I didn't mind though because with each coat I came a little bit closer to the lovely opaque white I was after.

So the milk paint was a success and a pleasure to work with. But the real revelation in this project was the completely amazing, transforming power of Miss Mustard Seed's Antiquing Wax, which I applied on top of the paint. This is an incredible product. After I had applied 6 coats of the milk paint, the finish was nice but was lacking something. It was a little bit too uniform (I had heard that milk paint has a lot of color variation and for whatever reason I wasn't getting that) and a bit too flat and chalky. The white was also pretty bright and it didn't have the worn-in antique-y look I was going for. The Ironstone is beautiful but it was such a brilliant contrast to the wood and it was a little shocking.

Horrible lighting, but this is how the antiquing wax looks in contrast to the milk paint on its own

Right before applying the wax I gave the whole table a quick sand with a sanding sponge to smooth out the paint. I also lightly distressed the corners and edges to let the wood underneath show a little. I didn't want to overdo this step but it did help to make it table look aged.

Then I began to apply the antiquing wax. I rubbed it in slowly at first, nervous to be putting such a dark-colored wax on top of white paint, but as I began to see how beautiful and natural it looked I gained confidence. This wax gave me the most gorgeous finish! As I rubbed it in the wax seeped into the cracks and crevices and imperfections in the table, giving it a really authentically aged look. I applied it with a paint brush and then used a cotton cloth to lightly rub it in and wipe off the excess. I found that by using slightly different strokes and amounts of pressure as I wiped the wax away I could get beautiful color variations, from lighter cream to deeper mocha. And while the surface feels smooth and sealed and moisturized, visually, there are many different textures that appeared when I used the wax. It's really amazing stuff. In an hour, I had achieved the patina of one hundred years.

This crackly texture is amazing! It feels smooth, but looks scruffy and rough, and I love that.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever go back to brushing regular latex paint on furniture again. I think I'll still use spray paint because it's just so useful and practical for certain projects, but already I'm feeling very loyal to milk paint and the furniture waxes that Miss Mustard Seed has created. I see a lot of milk paint projects in my future!

An Extra Sweet Day

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

We don't really make much of a fuss on Valentine's Day--this year we're staying in with a great homemade meal and a romantic movie-- but I do see this day as a chance to dote on my favorite guy and make him feel really special and cared for. We try hard to love each other well every day of the year but it's fun to be a little mushy and silly and extra sweet to each other on Valentine's Day, don't you think?

Homemade coffee cake for breakfast

To love and be loved is one of life's greatest privileges, and not just in the romantic sense. Don't forget to send your mom and dad and siblings some X's and O's today, too! Have a beautiful weekend.

DIY Valentine's Day Gift

I had to make my husband promise he wouldn't read my blog today because I'm sharing his Valentine's Day gift! This is a very simple DIY I put together yesterday and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I thought it was worth sharing in case you also have a Game of Thrones-obsessed husband/boyfriend and need some last-minute inspiration! This could also work for a birthday or a just-because gift. If he loves the books/show as much as my husband does, it should be a hit no matter what.

(In case you haven't seen Game of Thrones, you can Google these words and get the back story on them.)

Here's how I did it. I typed up the words and found a font I really liked, sized it and printed it in light grey type on white cardstock. Using my gold leaf pen I carefully traced over the words. Then I framed the cardstock and that was it!

I think this would look pretty cute in a bathroom or resting on a nightstand. We'll have to see where my husband wants to put it. I think it's a fun pop culture reference while also acting as a little love note to my husband. Those Dothrakis are pretty poetic, I must say. (And that's the last time you'll see a word like "Dothraki" on my blog! The things we do for the men in our lives!)